No Slowing Summer Down
Butterkase, Smoked Butterkase & Muenster cheeses from Forgotten Valley Cheese
No Slowing Summer Down
The phrase "make hay while the sun shines" couldn't have been more true this week for several of our farmers, as the first cutting of the season took place with the nice warm summer weather we've been experiencing. Check out this video from Dreamfarm to see the process in action. The pressing need to get the work done is felt by many right now, maybe more so than ever. Whether it's the yard overhaul you've waited all winter to start or the fundraiser you're organizing to help your neighbors, we have to jump at the project when the timing is right. When you're talking farmers' markets, we know this is always the case. If you're looking to make up a batch of pickled asparagus, you have to get on it when it's ripe and ready from produce vendors such as Black Earth Valley and Yang Family Produce. It will be the case in the next few weeks, as we see strawberries start coming into the market. That jam won't make itself, and there's no better time to make jam than when the fruit is fresh, ripe and juicy. Of course that work pays off when you're spreading those homemade preserves over slices of Madison Sourdough baguette and relaxing with a nice cup of coffee. Sometimes the reward is an eyeful of blossoming flowers and lush foliage, as you watch the plants from Country Bloomer's Greenhouse grow strong in the garden. A chocolate tart from Honey Bee Bakery pairs well with garden appreciation, for those of you who like the addition of something more tangible in appreciation of your hard work. We tip our caps to all you putting in the extra work this time of year. We hope trips to market provide some tasty relief from your labors, or at the very least, add more flavor to it! See you at market! Ben Zimmerman Market Manager P.S. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates on the market as the season kicks off!
Shopping Safely This Season
Before you make your first trip to market, we'd like you to know what will be different for this season and we ask for your help in keeping things safe. We have an adjusted layout for this season, with single sided vendor aisles spread out with a gap between each vendor. Much like the grocery store, we're asking that foot traffic move in one direction through each market aisle, indicated by our yellow sandwich board signs. We ask you to please follow these directions and be patient as we all adapt to this different flow. As you shop the stalls, please mind the six foot spacing lines in front of vendors' tents. Give each other space to shop and don't crowd into vendor booths. While reusable shopping totes are not banned, if you're using your own bags, please do not ask vendors to pack them for you. Planning your market trip may be the easiest way to get what you need, while keeping the market safe. Many of our vendors will be offering pre-orders that you may place during the week for a quick pick up at their stall on Saturday morning. Below we'll detail what options for pre-order are available this weekend and we'll update that weekly as more vendors add that option. For what you can't pre-order, consider making a shopping list by vendor before you get to the market. Having a plan of action will speed things up and help you get what you need as quickly as possible. We know that these methods won't work for everyone, but those of you who can adapt will be helping everyone with your efficiency. We're also asking everyone to send just one person per household to the market, which will aid us in lowering the crowd count each week. You can also help out by altering your shopping time, consider coming early in the morning (we open at 7am) or later (open until 12:30pm) to lower the crowd pressure during the peak hours. These little adjustments can really help make things operate smoothly and ensure we don't become too crowded. We encourage you all to wear a mask too. Even a bandana is better than nothing and can help lower the risk of transmission. Wash your hands before you come to market, wash them when you get home and with our four handwashing stations set up around the market, you can wash them while you visit too.
Vendor Updates & Pre-Order Options
Our amazing vendors are providing options for your shopping these season. Find all the latest pre-order options and weekly market offering here. Check back each week for notices about pre-ordering, vendor absences and other special vendor notices. Blue Moon Community Farm's preorder program for seedlings has wrapped up for the season, however the remaining selection of their organic vegetable and herb seedlings will be available at their market stand. Bryant Family Farms will be offering fresh chicken this weekend, including whole birds, leg quarters, bone-in breasts and wings. Chris & Lori's Bakehouse is offering the following for this weekend: *Black & White Solidarity Cookies with 100% gross proceeds to be donated to Downtown Madison Emergency Relief fund and the George Floyd Memorial Fund. *Flower & Cow cookies *Chocolate Chip Sconuts *White Chocolate Raspberry Scones *Coconut Dark Chocolate Scones *Rhubarb Oat Scones *Blueberry Oat Scones *Cinnamon Oat Scones *Whole Grain Dark Chocolate Chunk Scones *Whole Grain Cranberry Orange Oat Scone *Whole Grain Carrot Raisin Oat Scones *Gluten Free Vegan Mocha Scons *Gluten Free Rhubarb Scones *Gluten Free Banana Blueberry Scones
All scones are $30/Doz (one flavor) Or $18/ Half Doz (one flavor) Or $3 each at the stand for a mix & match bag of any amount of scones.
Email your order at CLBakehouse@gmail.com Orders due by noon on Thursday. Don's Produce will be offering bundles of their Arena grown, pesticide free, heirloom cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. They'll also be offering 5lb bags of their sweet potatoes. Dreamfarm is offering pre-orders for market pick-up by calling (608) 767-3442 or emailing diana@dreamfarm.biz Driftless Chocolates is offering pre-orders for market pick-up on their website. Flyte Family Farm is offering pre-orders by calling (715) 228-2304 Fungi Farmers (formerly know as Herb n Oyster) are offering pre-orders through their website. Highland Spring Farm is offering pre-orders for market pick-up on their website. Honey Bee Bakery will be offering pre-orders for market pick-up on their website. JenEhr Family Farm will be offering a great array of their farm fresh organic produce, from fresh greens to tasty crisp radishes. They'll also be offering their pasture raised chicken. Madison Sourdough will be doing pre-orders only this weekend. Get your order in by Wednesday evening on their website. McCluskey Brothers Shillelagh Glen Farms is offering pre-ordering on their website. Open Kettle Farms is offering pre-orders of their maple syrup. Contact them on their Facebook page to order. ParKelm Farm is offering pre-orders for market pick-up on their website. Steppin' Out Foods will be absent this weekend, as they're away for a family wedding. The will return June 20th. Urban Gourmet will have their first baby salad greens of the season in this weekend, alongside their 2020 pastured chicken, including whole, bone-in breasts, thighs, wings and drums.
Frozen sweet corn chowder from Alsum Sweet Corn
We wanted to take a moment and say thank
you to the efforts of two of our bakery vendors this week who are offering special promotions in an active effort to aid in the broader racial justice movement. From Madison Sourdough (lefthand photo): "We are proud and inspired by the intense work for social justice we’ve witnessed in our city these past two weeks. We want to be an ally to keep that momentum building. When the pandemic hit and it became clear that families would go hungry, our customers rallied and purchased over 1,000 loaves to donate to our neighbors in need. For the month of June, we will be matching every purchase of a Neighbor Loaf with an equal cash donation split between two local, powerful, Black and Southeast Asian run nonprofits working for social justice, Freedom, Inc. and Urban Triage . Because we recognize that food insecurity cannot be effectively addressed without first addressing systemic racial injustice. Neighbor Loaves can be purchased on our website through the ‘preorder’ and ‘carry out’ tabs." Chris & Lori's Bakehouse (righthand photo): Chris & Lori's Bakehouse are offering Black & White Solidarity Cookies, with 100% of the proceeds being donated to the George Floyd Memorial Fund & the Downtown Madison Emergency Relief Fund.
Beyond our vendors efforts, we also wanted to share this great resource from Civil Eats entitled "Want to See Food and Land Justice for Black Americans? Support These Groups." They've put together a really nice list of organizations that actively work to address racial inequalities in the food and agriculture sectors.
Connect with our Vendors!
This list of alternative means to get our vendors' products will grow as new offerings roll in. Please check back regularly and feel free to email Market Manager Ben if you're looking to connect with any vendor not listed. Vendor Purchasing Alternatives (PDF)
